Samsung Galaxy S III In Australia: Everything You Need To Know

After initially having "no plans" to announce back at the start of the month, Samsung Australia has officially launched the Galaxy S III. We're live at the launch, updating with information as we go. Update: Now with Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Virgin pricing.
More:
Watch The Galaxy S III Livestream here!

Here's the roundup of the plans and carriers on offer.

We already knew yesterday that Vodafone was going to be one of the carrier partners for Samsung's latest superphone; it'll offer the S III on a range of plans, and it's just sent out its release outlining what they'll be. The big hook for Vodafone will be double data for the first 12 months of the contract.

Vodafone's release notes that it'll be available online from 11am, or in stores from midday. It'll stock both the white and pebble blue versions, and there's no mention in the release of a delay on the blue model -- but I wouldn't bet on getting one today. There's mention of the 32GB model, but only as a $10 premium on the $59 cap; it's not clear if it's available at the other price points.

The event is nicely stage managed, for what that's worth, but if you watched the London live stream, it's terribly similar. That shouldn't be a great surprise -- it is the same phone. Samsung's running through the features of the phone right now, with the promise of "revealing" when it'll be available to consumers (bearing in mind this is the launch for the entire APAC) soon. I hate to break it to them, but Vodafone already called it.

On sale in Australia "within the hour" says Tyler McGee of Samsung. But no announcement from Samsung as to who the carrier partners are -- beyond the fact that we know Vodafone's getting it, and there's strong indications for Optus as well.

Samsung's release notes that the outright price for the S III will be $899 from "all operators". I've also had a tip that Optus will start selling in the same timeframe as Vodafone -- 11 for online, 12 in stores -- but again, no word yet on what it'll cost. All carriers does indicate that Telstra will sell an S III, but will it be 4G, given that Telstra already sells the GS II 4G?

Update: I've been sent the following as an Optus price list, albeit not officially; still waiting on confirmation, so take these with a grain of salt.

Update: Telstra's just sent through its pricing (which I'll have up shortly), but it's not promoting it as an LTE variant -- which leaves the Galaxy S II 4G as its LTE Samsung offering. Also, there's no obvious sign of the 32GB version, and Telstra's release is the only one that outright says it won't have the Pebble Blue variant for a couple of weeks.

Update: Samsung says it's "in discussions" with Telstra regarding a 4G version, which it will "follow with in the future". So that confirms that the Telstra model is the 3G-only variant.

Update: Here come the accessories -- but third party ones, with Belkin announcing it's got a range of cases for the S III which will be available "in June".

Samsung says it's only offering the white model for now, with the blue model available "next week". As for the "no plans" comment, it appears that Samsung's position on that was that it was a "no comment"; it hopes that "the momentum of the Galaxy S II will flow through to the S III", and doesn't figure that the no comment will have a significant effect on S III sales. No word yet on outright pricing for the 32GB model.

WATCH MORE: Tech News

Comments

"After initially having “no plans” to announce back at the start of the month, Samsung Australia has officially launched the Galaxy S III."

Indeed.. they did say that.. and they were quite snobbish about it on top of that. If I get one, it will not be from Samsung Australia (ie. I will direct import). Just like I will not support the likes of other snobbish and lying, price gouging Australian branches of global companies.

Oh did the big bad company lie to you ? Need a hug.
Samsung were always intending to launch the S III by June, they always intended to start selling the product in Australia in June, they just wanted to keep the launch event and date quiet. It's disheartening to see people take media and marketing announcements as gospel. Do you feel cheated by Apple too because they keep their launch plans secret ?

$899 outright!!?? that is just outrageous, ludicrous pricing. The HTC One X is looking VERY tempting at $519 from Kogan. Stick it on a $12 LiveConnected plan and your good to go and get much better value. I quite like the specs of the GS3, but to warrant nearly a $400 premium? no thanks, they both perform much the same overall.

plus all the international media says that the quad core processor can't support the LTE modem, so the LTE version would have the dual core. and telstras site clearly says in the specs that it is a quad core!

Telstra make a dogs breakfast of plan pricing, by charging more for plans with handsets than BYO plans and then adding handset charges as well. I always quote them as the standard BYO charge + total you're paying to get a handset -- the total is the same and it makes for easier comaprisons.

No 4G yet? Might be worth just waiting for Google IO to see what the next gen Nexus phones can offer. Also Telstra pricing for SGS3 vs HTC One XL isn't great and the HTC is already 4G. No SD expansion but 32GB isn't bad. Hmmmmm.......

went down to local vodafone store and had a play with the white one. i have to say the white is just awful. it looks cheap as... the software feels pretty nice but nothing too different from the s2 in terms of performance. the screen is beautiful which is a redeeming feature but otherwise it just feels cheap and dated..
I am gonna wait to check out the blue colour when it arrives but so far i am not really impressed with the look and feel of the device. This is disappointing as i was really looking forward to getting this. At this point the HTC one x or One XL just feels and looks much slicker. This whole BS about making it feel like nature really is no more than BS and i had expected better from sammy :(

Why waste money on an overpriced plan from the telcos. Just get a liveconnected tribs plan for $10.99 pm and buy your own phone. Based on 24months you are paying around $45pm with a no contract plan that gives you 1.5GB data and $1100 call credits. You'd have to spend $64pm on a 24 month contract to match that.

Only logged in users may vote for comments!

Get Permalink

Trending Stories Right Now

I'm the first to admit that my YouTube viewing habits are a little limited. I enjoy film analysis (Movies with Mikey, Every Frame A Painting - RIP), some sciency stuff like minutephysics and the International Space Station livesteam, and I force everyone who comes into my home to experience Bondi Hipsters' Pipi Dance.
But you mob. These are your top 10 most watched YouTube videos of 2017, and I'm...I'm kind of impressed.

We all have incredibly petty hills to die on when it comes to the series we love. Paul McGann is the best Doctor. Deep Space Nine is better than The Next Generation. Superior Spider-Man was good. Here is my pettiest hill, though it's one I'm still prepared to die on. Star Wars' A-Wings are for losers, and I am disproportionately mad they're in The Last Jedi.